Scoop attachment for power lift trucks



Sept. 11, 1956 J. c. STREB ET SCOOP ATTACHMENT FOR POWER LIFT TRUCKS,

d m s 5 58 1 mm w M m%& m mww T w a A w w we 5 JG a Filed March 3, 1954 Sept. 11, 1956 J. c. STREB ET AL 2,762,518

SCOOP ATTACHMENT FOR POWER LIFT TRUCKS Filed March 3, 1954 3 Shee ts-Sheet 2 5 IN V EN TORS Joseph CJEreIz cu ATTORNEYS' p 11, 1956 J. c. STREB ET AL 2,762,518

SCOOP ATTACHMENT FOR POWER LIFT TRUCKS Filed March 5, 1954 I5 Sheets-Sheet 3 I f .fi T P 2 9 6 H m in Z I I J JJ Fa aa Joseph G. Siz-eb a, BY Ba 3058 d Unite States 2,762,518 SCOOP ATTACHlVIENT FOR POWER LIFT TRUCKS Application March 3, 1954, Serial No. 413,849 4 Claims. (Cl. 214-620) Our invention relates to a new and improved scoop attachment for power lift trucks, and more specifically to a scoop attachment for a power lift truck having an auxiliary lifting mast.

There are many occasions in the modern manufacturing plant in which it is necessary to move loose materials such as stones, gravel or small parts from the floors, or discharged from trucks or railroad cars, to various other locations. This is frequently accomplished by use of a power lift truck and bottom dump boxes or the like. However, with the use of such equipment, it is necessary to load the bottom dump box by hand after which it is possible to transport the material to the desired location and dump it.

End loaders are also frequently used for this purpose, but this requires an expensive piece of equipment and the cost is prohibitive for a small manufacturing concern or foundry when such end loader is not in operation all of the time.

Scoop attachments for power lift trucks have been proposed, but most of those require the complete removal of the lifting means from the lift truck before the scoop means can be attached, such as the removal of the forks of a fork lift truck. Also, most of these prior attachments are otherwise complicated to assemble on the power lift truck since they usually include a separate cylinder attachment required in order to accomplish the scooping, transportation and dumping of the material handled.

It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide a scoop attachment for power lift trucks which overcomes and eliminates the stated difficulties with previous constructions.

It is a further object of the present invention to present an inexpensive scoop attachment for power lift trucks which will serve the purpose of an end loader for moving materials from freight cars, truck trailers or off the ground to desired locations.

It i still a further object of the present invention to present a scoop attachment for power lift trucks which may be easily and quickly attached to or detached from a standard power lift truck having an auxiliary lifting mast.

It is an additional object of the present invention to present a scoop attachment for power lift trucks which may be placed in a scoop position and then tilted to positively hold the material within the scoop for transportation after which the scoop may be placed in a position to quickly dump the material at the desired new location.

Finally, it is an object of the present invention to present a scoop attachment for power lift trucks which accomplishes all of the above objects but yet is simple in design, inexpensive to manufacture and durable in use.

These and other objects are accomplished by the parts, constructions, arrangements, combinations, and subcombinations comprising the present invention, the naatt ture of which is set forth in the following general statement, preferred embodiments of which-illustrative of the best mode in which applicant has contemplated applying the principles-are set forth in the following description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and which is particularly and distinctly pointed out and setforth in the appended claims forming a part hereof.

In general terms the improved scoop attachment for power lift trucks constituting the present invention may be stated as including a scoop bucket, tilting means attached to the scoop bucket, attaching arms, pivotal means connecting the tilting means to the attaching arms, sup= port means for pivotally connecting the attaching arms to an auxiliary lifting mast of a power lift truck, and clearance means mounted on the scoop bucket to allow the lifting means of a power lift truck to enter under the scoop bucket.

More specifically, the improved scoop attachment' for power lift trucks constituting the present invention may be stated as including a scoop bucket having longitudinally extending side plates and transversely extending back, bottom and scoop plates, tilting arms mounted on the longitudinally extending side plates of the scoop bucket, attaching arms, a pin attaching the tilting arms to the attaching arms, support pins connecting the attaching arms to an auxiliary lifting mast of a power lift truck, and clearance projection or recess means mounted or formed on the scoop plate of the scoop bucket to allow the lifting means or forks of a power lift truck to enter under the scoop bucket.

By way of example, embodiments of the improved scoop attachment for power lift trucks of the present invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals indicate similar parts throughout the several views and in which:

Fig. 1 is a side perspective view showing the improvedscoop attachment of the present invention attached to the auxiliary lifting mast of a forklift truck with the scoop bucket resting on the forks in position for scoop= ing material;

Fig. 2 is a top elevation of the scoop attachment separate from the lift truck;

Fig. 3' is a side elevation of the scoop attachment separate from the lift truck;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged back fragmentary view showing the scoop'attached to the auxiliary lifting mast of'a'power lift truck;

Fig. 5 is a side perspective view showing the' scoop at tachment attached to a fork lift truck and in position for transporting material;

Fig. 6 is a side perspective View showing the scoop attachment attached to a fork lift truck and in position for dumping;

Fig. 7 is a top elevation showing a second embodiment of the scoop attachment having a wedge type scoop plate;

Fig. 8 is a bottom elevation showing a third embodiment of the scoop attachment with the scoop plate having recessed portions formed therein andthe forks of a fork lift truck in position in the recesses; and I Fig. 9 is a sectional viewlooking the direction of arrows 9-9 in Fig. 8.

The scoop attachment of the present invention is preferably for use with a lift truck having an auxiliary lifting mast, that is, an auxiliary mast separately powered which may be raised or lowered independent of the raising and lowering of the normal lifting means and which is attached to and assembled as a part of the power lift truck.

The first embodiment of the scoop attachment is shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 and includes an open scoop Patented Sept. 11, 1956- bucket generally indicated at 1 and attaching arms generally indicated at 2.

The scoop bucket 1 is made up of longitudinally extending side plates 3, transversely connected by back plate 4, bottom plate 5, and scoop plate 6. The scoop bucket is'preferably made of steel plate and of welded construction.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, the side plates 3 have vertical back edges and horizontal top and bottom edges with the bottom edge being shorter than the top edge. The top and bottom edges of side plates 3 are connected by an upwardly angled front edge as shown in Fig. 3.

The back plate 4 is a rectangular plate connecting the side plates 3 at right angles and extends from the top to the bottom edges of side plates 3 at the back vertical edges thereof. The bottom plate 5 is also a rectangular plate and connects the side plates 3 at their bottom horizontal edges and abuts the bottom edge of back plate 4. The scoop plate 6 is also a rectangular plate and connects the side plates 3 at their upwardly angled edges, abutting the edge of bottom plate 5 and extending to the top edge of side plates 3 to form the front side of the scoop bucket 1.

On the bottom side of the scoop plate 6, spaced from the side plates 3, are clearance projections or members 7. Projection members 7 are preferably steel angles mounted so that the leg portions connect to the bottom of the scoop plate 6 and the apex of the angle extends downwardly.

Tilting arms 8 are mounted on the outside faces of side plates 3, spaced from bottom plate 5, and extend rearward of the back plate 4 at a slightly downward angle beyond the edges of back plate 4. Holes are formed in the rearmost end portions of tilting arms 8 to receive pins 9 which extend through the holes and project from the lower ends of the attaching armsltl.

Attaching arms 10 are preferably formed of steel tubing and extend upwardly above the top edges of the scoop bucket 1. As shown in Fig. 4, support pins 11 are mounted on and project from the upper ends of arms 10; and pins 11 extend through holes formed in the vertical lugs 12 of the auxiliary lifting mast 13 of a power lift truck. The inwardly extending ends of connecting pins 11 are provided with holes receiving safety pins 14, which safety pins are connected to the attaching arms 10 by chains 15.

It is preferred to mount pins 9 on the attaching arms 10 so that the pins 9 may pivot in the holes formed in the tilting arms 8 with the pins 9 fixed to the arms 10. Additionally, it is preferred to have the holes formed in the tilting arms 8 with larger diameters than the diameters of pins 9 so that the attaching arms 10 will have a predetermined amount of play so that they may be selectively moved a small amount laterally outward at their upper ends.

It is also preferred that the connecting pins 11 be fixed to the upper ends of the attaching arms 10 and pivoted in the holes formed in the vertical lugs 12 of the auxiliary lifting mast 13.

When it is desired to attach the scoop attachment to a power lift truck such as the fork lift truck shown in Fig. l, the forks of the fork lift truck are inserted under the scoop plate 6 the rear end of which is held a predetermined distance from the floor by angles 7. The forks are inserted until the back corner formed by the back plate 4 and the bottom plate 5 strikes vertical members of the fork lift truck.

The attaching arms 10 are then in proper position to be spread laterally outwardly so that the attaching pins 11 may be received through the holes formed in the vertical lugs 12 of the auxiliary lifting mast 13. Once the pins 11 are in place, the safety pins 14 may be dropped in place to prevent the attaching arms 10 from becoming detached.

The scoop attachment is shown in Fig. 1 attached to a 4 fork lift truck with the attaching arms 2 attached to the auxiliary lifting mast 13. The scoop bucket 1 is in position for scooping material with the scoop plate 6 resting fully on the forks. It may be noted that the auxiliary mast 13 is in a slightly raised position.

When it is desired to actually perform the scooping operation, the forks of the lift truck preferably are tilted so that the front edge of the scoop plate 6 just touches the floor surface. The lift truck may then be moved forward and the scoop bucket forced into a pile of stones,l

gravel or loose parts thus filling the scoop bucket.

As shown in Fig. 5, the auxiliary mast 13 is then lowered forcing the attaching arms 10 downwardly, which in turn forces the ends of the tilting arms 8 downwardly thereby pivoting the scoop bucket 1 on the corner 16 formed by the abutting edges of scooping plate 6 and bottom plate 5. The auxiliary mast 13 is then lowered until the scoop bucket 1 rests fully on the bottom plate 5 as shown in Fig. 5. The scoop bucket, filled with material, may then be transported to the desired new location.

The scoop bucket is shown in Fig. 6 in dumping position. The auxiliary mast 13 has been raised forcing thev attaching arms 10 upwardly which in turn forces the ends of the tilting arms 8 upwardly and pivots the scoop bucket 1 back on the scooping plate 6. This upward movement of the auxiliary mast 13 is continued until finally the back portion of the scooping plate 6 is raised above the forks and the outer end portion of the scooping plate 6 of the scoop bucket is resting on the ends of the forks. This, of course, dumps the material from the scoop bucket 1.

With the auxiliary mast arrangment shown in Figs. 1, 5 and 6, the forks of the fork lift truck may be raised or lowered without changing the position of the auxiliary mast in relation to the forks. The scoop attachment may, therefore, be elevated to any desired height for transportation and also dumped from any desired elevation. Thus, the material in the scoop may be deposited in a container or hopper if it is so desired.

The second embodiment of a scoop attachment is shown in Fig. 7, the only difference being in the shape of the front edge of the scoop plate 6. As shown in Fig. 7, the front edge of the scoop plate 6 extends forwardly from the edges of the side plates 3 and is formed into a wedge shape. bucket into a pile of material during the scooping operation.

The third embodiment of the scoop attachment is shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the only difference from the first embodiment being that the scoop plate 6 has downwardly open recesses, indicated at 17, formed therein to selectively receive the forks of a fork lift truck. The recesses 17 are preferably of a depth equal to or greater than the thickness of the forks.

With the recesses 17 formed in the scoop plate 6, it is not necessary, in the scooping operation, to tilt the scoop bucket 1 forwardly, since the forks of the fork lift truck may be lowered until touching the floor surface and the front edge of the scoop plate 6 will also be touching the floor surface. These recesses 17 also allow better control of the scoop attachment by the forks of the fork lift truck during the scooping operation, by holding the same against lateral movement.

Thus the construction of the invention provides a scoop attachment for power lift trucks which will serve the purpose of an end loader for moving materials from box or flat cars, truck trailers, or off the ground or floor surfaces and transport them to desired locations, which scoop attachment is quickly attached to or detached from a lift truck and is simple and inexpensive to manufacture yet will stand up under long and continued use.

In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness and understanding, but no unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom,

This will aid in inserting the scoop because such words are used for descriptive purposes herein and are intended to be broadly construed.

Moreover, the embodiments of the improved construction illustrated and described herein are by way of example and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown.

Having now described the invention, the construction, operation and use of preferred embodiments thereof, and the advantageous new and useful results obtained thereby, the new and useful construction, and reasonable mechanical equivalents thereof obvious to those skilled in the art are set forth in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A scoop attachment for a lift truck having an auxiliary lifting mast, including longitudinally extending side walls, transversely extending back, bottom and scoop walls connecting the side Walls, rearwardly extending tilting arms connected to the side walls, connecting arms, pivotal means connecting the connecting arms to the tilting means, support means pivotally connecting the connecting arms to the auxiliary mast of a lift truck, and clearance means on the underside of the scoop wall; whereby the scoop attachment may be attached to a lift truck and selectively placed in a position to scoop loose material from a floor surface, or in a position to transport the material, or in a position to dump the material.

2. Scoop attachment construction as defined in claim 1 in which the pivotal means connecting the connecting arms to the tilting arms consists of pins fixed to the connecting arms and pivoted in the tilting arms.

3. Scoop attachment construction as defined in claim 1 in which the attaching means pivotally connecting the connecting arms to the auxiliary mast of a lift truck consists of pins fixed to the connecting arms and pivoted to the auxiliary mast.

4. A scoop attachment for a lift truck having an auxiliary lifting mast and main lifting means, including longitudinally extending side walls, transversely extending back, bottom and angled scoop walls connecting the side walls, tilting means connected to certain of said Walls, connecting arms, pivotal means connecting the connecting arms to the tilting means, support means pivotally connecting the connecting arms to an auxiliary mast of a lift truck, at least one of said bottom and angled scoop walls resting on and supporting the scoop attachment on the lift truck main lifting means when the scoop attachment is operably connected to the lift truck, the lift truck main lifting means and the support means comprising the sole support of the scoop attachment in operable position on the lift truck, and spaced downwardly open recess portions formed in the scoop wall to receive the forks of a fork lift truck with the depth of the recess portions being at least as great as the thickness of the forks; whereby the lift means of a lift truck may enter thereunder and the scoop attachment may be attached to the lift truck.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,319,456 Hazen May 18, 1943 2,325,568 Eaton July 27, 1943 2,482,692 Quales et al Sept. 20, 1949 2,553,531 Graves May 15, 1951 2,601,163 Miller June 17, 1952 2,606,680 Herman Aug. 12, 1952 2,679,330 Allen May 25, 1954 2,708,043 Streb et al. May 10, 1955 

